Irish Pier wins Tasmanian Award

I was very pleased to be informed last month that my son, Chris, and I had won Tasmania's major annual folk song-writing award, The Mike Silverwood Memorial Prize for our song, The Irish Pier. Chris wrote the music and I wrote the lyrics. The song is about theIrish rebels, Thomas Meagher and Kevin Izod O'Doherty. All the major Irish rebels sent to Van Diemen's Land were confined to specific districts (Meagher to the area around Campbelltown and O'Doherty to the Oatlands area.) The Blackmans River which runs through Tunbridge formed the dividing line between their districts. Meagher came up with the idea of the two meeting for lunch provided by the Tunbridge publican with each of them remaining on their own side of the dividing line with a table made from large flat stones between them. Meagher dubbed the middle pier of the bridge at which they met, the Irish Pier.

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Thanks Gerard, The best part about the award was achieving this with my son and also in honouring the memories of those whose only crime was patriotism for their country. Next time I travel to the north of Tasmania I will take a phto of the bridge and post it in my blog